The Video Game Critic

I heard there's a new Atari Portable out (loaded with Atari 2600 games), which may provide me with a good excuse to finally review one of those things. When I search on Amazon however all I see is a bunch of the older models. What the heck?

I've read that the new Atari portable is a UK only release...at least at this time. So folks like myself would have to import the thing. I'm going to hold out for now as I can't see myself paying top dollar for a product like this.

AtariToday wrote:I've read that the new Atari portable is a UK only release...at least at this time. So folks like myself would have to import the thing. I'm going to hold out for now as I can't see myself paying top dollar for a product like this.

I believe you're talking about something different from another company, where as the Critic is talking about the 3rd iteration of the AtGames portable that just came out.

This is what I believe Europe got earlier, which was poorly received as I recall. But I believe it was recently refreshed a bit for Christmas 2018 and thus may be a better experience than it was in its first iteration.



This on the other hand is the latest AtGames unit.



The AtGames unit is supposed to be basically the same as the 2017 model, which was little changed itself from the launch model in 2016. It does add a few features though like rewind functionality, save states, and some variation to the built-in game list (The last of which is unimportant when you can just load your own roms via the included sd card slot). But it's the same hardware and same emulation program as the 2016 and 2017 editions.

The Atari handheld isn't going to follow the consoles by upgrading to the popular Stella emulator or by including high-definition HDMI out until possibly 2019. So it's the same old inaccurate AtGames emulator, the same lousy composite video output when connected to a tv, and same useless d-pad.

I suggest waiting it out another 12 months and hope for some real fixes with the 4th iteration. Despite their bad reputation, AtGames is working hard these days to do better. So hopefully it's the Atari handheld's turn for a remodel in 2019.

Happened upon an AtariAge thread not long after posting, and it was about that European Atari portable.

Sounds like it had so many issues that it wasn't actually released after all a year or more ago, and was being viewed as vaporware until recently when it started to make its way out finally in Europe. Sounds like it's far from perfect, but so is the AtGames unit.

The AtGames Atari Flashback Portable though has a secret weapon that shifts the equation solidly in its favor, and that's SD rom loading capabilities. Just unzip and toss this file that I've linked to below from AtariAge onto a SD card, and you'll have hundreds of additional classics in the palm of your hand.

http://atariage.com/forums/index.php?ap ... _id=542615

It's a curated list with games that don't work removed and the many games that have been hacked to run properly included (Like I said, the AtGames emulator is very imperfect, but skilled programmers at AtariAge have been able to modify many of the problem games to run correctly on the AtGames handheld).

There is a new Atari Flashback 9 out that has 110 games built in. I don't recall seeing a new portable unit though. The only two I am aware of are the one with Frogger and the one with PacMan.

Atariboy wrote: The AtGames Atari Flashback Portable though has a secret weapon that shifts the equation solidly in its favor, and that's SD rom loading capabilities. Just unzip and toss this file that I've linked to below from AtariAge onto a SD card, and you'll have hundreds of additional classics in the palm of your hand.

http://atariage.com/forums/index.php?ap ... _id=542615

It's a curated list with games that don't work removed and the many games that have been hacked to run properly included (Like I said, the AtGames emulator is very imperfect, but skilled programmers at AtariAge have been able to modify many of the problem games to run correctly on the AtGames handheld).

Thanks so much for this. The folks at AtariAge helped out with just such a list of modified games for another system I play, and it really gave me lots of fun. I'm still unsure given the reservations on the emulator and the d-pad, but now its genuinely into the 'consider this' bin

djc wrote:I don't recall seeing a new portable unit though. The only two I am aware of are the one with Frogger and the one with PacMan.

The initial 2016 release had Frogger prominently displayed on the front of the package. The 2017 release had Pac-Man displayed. Both are shown below.



The latest 2018 release has the boxart that I linked to in an earlier post, advertising both Frogger and Pac-Man. Other identifying marks for the latest revision are the number of games (80 versus 60 and 70 for the earlier versions) and the "save and resume games" and "rewind games" notations on the front.

djc wrote:There is a new Atari Flashback 9 out that has 110 games built in.

There's also a Gold revision with 10 additional built-in games like Pitfall 2. It also includes bluetooth wireless joysticks versus the wired versions in the regular FB9 (Not compatible with the bluetooth joysticks of the Flashback 8 HD). Otherwise it's the same as the regular Flashback 9 (I believe a retailer specific deluxe model has also been mentioned but has yet to be announced).



And if anyone buys a Flashback 9 of either model, be sure to check this thread out below and install the new firmware to enable SD rom loading capabilities. AtGames apparently was uncomfortable introducing that feature out of the box to the console line in 2018, but is doing a stealth firmware release through AtariAge to fully open it up to enable the playing of your own collection of rom images.

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/284357 ... o-sd-card/